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Due to the high temperatures used during heat treatments, many things must be removed from the area. The most vital things to ensure you remove are living things like pets and plants. To prevent damage to your belongings, you should also remove items such as electronics, flammable products, food, and anything else that the heat may damage.

Termites are generally more destructive than carpenter ants, which is why it’s important to get rid of termites as quickly as possible. Termites will swarm your home to relentlessly feast on its wood frame, sheetrock, insulation, and carpet down to the studs.

While carpenter ants work surprisingly efficiently, they can still take years to damage your home significantly. It can also take termites several years to fully compromise a home's structure. However, the right colony can take down a full house in about a year. Overall, termites are far more diligent when it comes to destroying structures.

Exterminators can get rid of your current ant problem, but they won’t prevent ants from coming back. So it’s important to implement ant preventatives to avoid future infestations.

The primary reason ants enter your home is to find food. If they can’t find any, they won’t survive. So, the most effective way to prevent ant infestations is to clean, clean, and clean some more. 

Keep your kitchen sparkling and wash your dishes immediately (or at least give them a quick rinse and wash off leftover food). Take out your garbage and compost as often as possible and tightly seal all your kitchen containers, especially the mason jars you use to hold your sugar—sugar is gold to ants.

You can also hire a local handyperson to help you prevent future ant infestations. The handyman can seal cracks and fix leaks throughout your home, which will keep any ants from entering.

It can be difficult to know what type of animal is in your attic until you see it. But several clues can help you narrow down the suspects:

• Sounds: Smaller animals like rats and mice make scurrying and tapping/gnawing sounds. Larger animals like raccoons and opossums make louder clambering noises. Also, note when animals are noisy: Squirrels are active during the day, while rats are busiest at night.

• Droppings: Rats and mice leave small, rice-shaped droppings (the rat’s version is significantly larger). Bigger droppings belong to larger critters like raccoons. As long as you’re not squeamish, an image search can help you identify what you’re seeing in your attic.

When in doubt, take photos of damage or other evidence and show them to an experienced pest control pro.